Sword Art Online Hollow Heart: Chain of memories
by karyu128
Summary: Sora and Kirito stumble upon a mysterious place called Castle Oblivion. Believing that they will find Riku and King Mickey inside, our heroes enter the bizarre looking castle. There they are confronted by a group of strangers in black coats. But that won't stop Sora from looking for his friends. In Castle Oblivion,to find is to lose and to lose is to find. what price will they pay?
1. Chapter 1

Sword art online Hollow Heart: Chain of Memories

Chapter 1 Castle Oblivion

My name is Kazuto Kirigaya. My friends call me Kirito. I'm currently laying down in a field of grass staring up at the night sky while my fiancé, Asuna Yuuki, is quietly snoozing next to me. Why am I in a grassy plain in the middle of nowhere you ask? Well that's because I went on this crazy world hopping quest with this spiky haired kid named Sora, along with a talking duck and dog named Donald and Goofy. See, Sora was chosen by this mystical weapon called a keyblade. A magical key shaped sword with the ability to lock or unlock any lock in existence. The keyblade chooses its wielders based on the strength in their heart. I guess that means I have a strong heart as well since I was able to call upon one of my own. The duty of a keyblade wielder is to protect the worlds from these creatures of darkness called Heartless. The Heartless are spawned whenever a person succumbs to the darkness in their heart. The heartless Posses the ability to steal their victims hearts. So when one spawns, more of them follow. The end goal of the heartless is to enter a world's keyhole so that they can enter the world's core and steal the heart of that world, thus dragging it into darkness. That's where Sora, and now I come in. The keyblade can lock these keyholes and prevent the heartless from destroying that world. Unfortunately, neither, Sora or I were in possession of the keyblade until after the heartless destroyed our worlds.

So, Sora and I journeyed across space to various worlds in order to seal these keyholes while looking for our friends and a way back home. Eventually we found the mastermind behind the heartless. A man by the name of Ansem. His goal was to gather the hearts of people and various worlds in one place in order to force open the door to darkness and locate Kingdom Hearts. The fabled birthplace of all hearts. Ansem believed that all hearts were born in darkness and that Kingdom hearts was darkness in its purest form. And though Ansem did succeed in opening the door to darkness, he quickly discovered that Kingdom Hearts was actually the purest form of light. The light of Kingdom Hearts destroyed Ansem. And we sealed the door to darkness away. After Ansem and the heartless were defeated, the hearts of the worlds they stole were returned to their place in the stars. So now we're looking for Sora's friend, Riku, along with Donald and Goofy's King, Mickey Mouse.

The door to darkness could only be closed and locked when there were people closing and locking it on both sides. So Riku and King Mickey stayed in the realm of darkness in order to lock the door while Sora locked it from our side. After we find them we can focus on Reuniting with Yui. The daughter of Asuna and I, Then we can finally go home. After this journey was over I planned to marry Asuna and settle down with her so that we could Raise Yui and our other Daughter Strea, together. Then I was going to create a vrmmorpg based on our adventures and cash in on the royalties. Sounds easy right? Wrong. You see, we're kind of lost right now. We have no idea where in the universe we are. And without a gummi ship, we couldn't leave. And even if we did have one, the walls separating the worlds were restored. So we wouldn't be able to leave whatever world we were currently on anyway. Anyone else would say that we're in a hopeless situation. Although anyone who says that clearly hasn't met Sora. That kid makes the impossible, possible. With Sora at our side there is no doubt in my mind that we will accomplish all of our goals.

Speaking of Sora, Kirito noticed that Sora was walking off without them. So Kirito decided to follow him. Sora and Kirito walked until they reached a four way intersection in the road. It was the first one they had seen since arriving in this strangely empty world. "Along the road ahead lies something you need." A voice said from behind us. The voice in question belonged to a man in a hooded black coat. Startle by the sudden appearance of the stranger we turned around to see who it was. Only to find no one there. We knew that the man wouldn't have gone very far since he had taken the trouble of speaking with us. And when we turned around again, we saw the cloaked individual standing before us. However—in order to claim it, you must lose something that is dear to you." He said. Kirito summoned his keyblade and let loose a battle cry as he attempted to run the man through, but the stranger vanished just before the blade connected. "What was that about?" Sora asked. "I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about this." Kirito replied.

Meanwhile, a blonde haired girl with blue eyes was drawing a picture of the castle she was currently at in crayon on her sketch pad. The girl was wearing a white sundress and sky blue sandles. The room she was in was entirely alabaster white. Her room didn't have much. Just a stool and a bird cage holding a tiny stuffed doll in her likeness. The doll was practically a symbol of her current imprisonment. But if what her captors said was true, she knew that there would soon be visitors. She only prayed that Sora and his friends would be able to escape the trap that was waiting for them. A trap that she herself was a part of. And was helpless to stop.

Our heroes stood before a strange looking castle. The castle itself was a golden color and had blueish triangular roofs on each of its spires. The spires themselves jutted out every which way and some of the rooms appeared to be tilted. Near the upper most level was a demonic gargoyle and above it was a stain glass window depicting a bright yellow star. The land and air around the castle was similar to the heartless world they had previously been to. When they looked at the castle they felt a strange feeling. As if everything they were searching for was in the castle's depths. Kirito in particular felt a strange sense of familiarity. As if he had seen this castle before. He also felt a sense of foreboding like going into this castle would be dangerous. However the castle was the only place of shelter, and perhaps people, they had seen so far. With no other options, the seven of them entered the strange castle.

The castle's interior was completely white. Except for the pale yellow doors at the entrance and back of the large foyer. The walls were lined marble columns. Between those columns were alabaster crests. And below those crests were white ceramic podiums topped with white ceramic flowers. The floor had diamond shaped patterns on either side of the center. "Hey, ya think it's okay to barge in?" Goofy asked. "But we've gotta do it. If we're gonna find the king." Donald replied. "The King! King Mickey's here?!" Goofy gasped while frantically looking around the foyer. "What makes you think that your king is here?" Asuna asked. "Something just told me he'd be here, okay?" Donald said. "Really? Cause now that ya mention it, I was kinda thinkin' the same thing. A-hyuck." Goofy replied. "Seriously? Me too! One look at this castle, and I just knew. Our very best friends—they're here." Sora said. "A-hyuck. Guess great minds think alike." Goofy said. "Wait, hey, hold on! It can't be just a coincidence!" Jiminy cricket said while hopping out of Sora's hood. "You don't mean that-" Kirito said before being cut off.

"Yep, I had it too, mm-hmm! I had the exact same feeling." Jiminy said. "Maybe it's contagious." Yuuki said. "You have to admit that something strange is going on." Strea said. "We've gotta take a look around." Asuna said. "Right." Sora replied. He then turned around and was about to walk towards the door at the end of the room when he was stopped by Donald who asked where he thought he was going. "That way. To the door." Sora pointed out. "Are ya scared?" Sora asked while grinning cockily at Donald. "Aw, don't be ridiculous! Come on, let's go Goofy!" Donald ranted and then stomped towards the door. "Hey, fellahs, shouldn't we shut the door behind us before we go?" Goofy asked. However when he turned towards the entrance door, his eyes widened in shock when he saw a man in a black coat standing at the entrance. The door behind him creaked as it slowly closed.

"That's it! Who are you?" Sora asked while calling out his keyblade and getting into a fighting stance. The rest of us drew our weapons and did the same. The stranger seemed totally unfazed as he slowly walked towards us. "Wak! Heartless! Oh yeah? I'll try some magic!" Donald said while hopping on one of his webbed feet and waving his staff to call out a spell. "THUNDER!" He shouted. Normally this would be the part where a bolt of electricity would strike the intended target, but for some reason nothing happened. "Come on. THUNDER! THUNDER!" Donald shouted to no avail. What was going on? Donald is an expert wizard. A simple thunder spell should have been no issue for him. "Come on… Blizzard? FIRE!" Donald futilely tried. "Why isn't it working?" Donald asked. "I should think it's obvious. The moment you set foot in the castle, you forgot every spell and every ability that you ever knew." The stranger said. 'Every spell and ability? Then that means…'everyone felt as if their reality was shattered like a baseball flying into a window 'OUR PROGRESS HAS BEEN RESET!'

"In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That is the way in Castle Oblivion." The stranger said. "Castle Oblivion?" Kirito parroted. The stranger was then enveloped by a dark portal and vanished before us. Then another portal opened and he reappeared behind us. "Here you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss." The stranger said. "I miss?" sora wondered aloud before an epiphany struck. "Riku! You mean Riku's here!?" Sora asked. "If what you want… is to find him…" the stranger trailed off as he raised his hand toward Sora. A gust of wind and cherry blossoms blew from his palm. The wind was as strong as a spring gale and sora was barely able to keep his footing. While the wind blew, the stranger ode with the wind he created and phased through Sora's body. When the wind stopped, Sora jumped in the air and swung his keyblade down towards the stranger's head in an overhead strike. However the man simply vanished and left cherry blossoms in his place. The man then reappeared in front of the door at the back of the foyer.

"What'd you do?" Sora asked. "I merely sampled your memories. And from them, I made this." The man said while holding out a card of some sort. The card had crown shaped points at the top. The frame of it was a sky blue color. And the artwork of the card depicted Traverse Towne. Although part of the picture was covered by mouse logo with a crown in the bottom left corner. And on the back of the card was a heart shaped logo with a crown inside it. "To reunite with those you hold dear-"he then tossed the card like a throwing knife towards Sora who promptly caught it. "What's this, a card?" Sora asked. "It is a promise for the reunion you seek. Hold the card to open the door. And beyond it, a new world." He then gestured to the pale yellow doors behind him. "Proceed, Sora. To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…" the stranger said before vanishing once more in a dark portal.

Ever since the stranger mentioned the name of Castle Oblivion Kirito's head began to throb. As time went on, the pain in his head increased further and further. Like a knife that was slowly being twisted and driven into his skull. This castle was starting to overwhelm him and when the stranger disappeared, he collapsed. His vision was getting hazy. He knew at some point he heard Sora and Asuna rush to his aid. He saw Asuna, but instead of Sora, he saw a boy with spiky blonde hair, blue eyes and a black and white jacket that was pleaded red on the inside. The boy's facial features bore a resemblance to Sora though. Kirito had no idea who this boy was, but for some reason he felt a sense of remorse towards him? As if he had done something terrible to him. As his consciousness slowly faded he uttered one last word. "Ventus…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 the world of cards

Asuna cradled Kirito's head in her lap. A look of worry etched on her face as she gazed at his unconscious form. Questions upon questions formed in her mind as she wondered what or who could've caused her fiancé to collapse. "Kirito… please wake up." Asuna said. "Gawrsh! You don't think that fellah in the black coat could've done something to him?" Goofy pondered. "Well if he did, he's gonna pay for it!" Sora angrily remarked. "Yeah, let's get him!" Donald said. "Did you forget what happened just now? Our abilities are gone! We can't fight anyone until we figure out how this cockamamie castle works." Asuna said. "But-" Sora said before being cut off by Asuna again. "No Buts! We're not going anywhere until Kirito wakes up." Asuna said firmly.

While Kirito slept, his dreams brought him to a familiar place. A round, gothic column with a stain glass floor depicting himself, his loved ones, and the floating castle Aincrad. From what he could gather, this place existed inside of his heart. Although the only times he had been to this place, was when his mysterious tenant, Master Eraqus, had called for him. He hadn't figured out why he chose him of all people, but Eraqus had been a source of guidance for Kirito in the past. Perhaps he could help explain their current predicament. "Eraqus! Master Eraqus!" Kirito called out. "I need some answers. What is Castle oblivion? Who is that guy in the black coat? And who was that kid I saw?" Kirito asked. A ball of light floated towards the station from the inky darkness surrounding it. Once it reached the station's center, the light intensified for a second before Eraqus resumed his human form.

"Apologies, Kirito. What you experienced was one of my memories. It seems this castle has caused our memories to mix with one another. Allow me to explain. Castle Oblivion as it is now known, was once my home. Light and darkness exist in equal balance here. The masters before me devised a certain… trick to keep people from abusing such neutral ground. Before it became what you see now, I lived here as its protector and was tasked with training keyblade wielders so that they would one day become masters. Before I passed, I taught one of my students how to turn this place into the castle you see today. The memories of all who enter this castle are lost to Oblivion. Hence the name." Eraqus said. "So that splitting pain in my head was one of your memories. What did you do?" Kirito asked. "Let's just say it's something I regret and leave it at that. Now, on to more important matters. Those strangers in the black coats are trespassers. They have to be dealt with." Eraqus said. "Okay, and the boy with the blonde hair?" Kirito asked. "One of my students. Now if that's all, I believe you have a more pressing matter to attend to." Eraqus said curtly. He then turned back into a ball of light and floated off to some other corner of this imaginary space. "Well he's as cryptic as ever." Kirito said.

Back in the castle foyer, Kirito groaned as he woke from his abrupt slumber and saw Asuna looking down at him with an expression of concern. "Hey Asuna." Kirito greeted. "Kirito… You dummy." Asuna scolded while tearing up. "Can you get up?" Strea asked. "I think so." Kirito responded. "Here, let me give you a hand." Sora offered while extending his arm toward Kirito. Kirito took the offered hand and with sora's help he was soon back on his feet. "Gawrsh. Are ya sure you're okay Kirito?" Goofy asked. "Yeah. It was just a head ache." Kirito said. "You passed out! That's more than just a head ache. You probably have a concussion." Yuuki said. "It's fine. I know what happened. Eraqus explained it to me." Kirito said. "Eraqus?" Donald parroted. "The knight from my dreams. Eraqus is his name. He said that this is place is going to mess with our memories. I guess it started with me. One of my memories was swapped with his. I don't know what it was, but it hurt. A lot." Kirito said. "To find is to lose, and to lose is to find. So we lose our old memories and find new ones?" Asuna said. "I think you just hit the nail on the head Asuna." Kirito said. "Well I know one thing. That guy in the coat is trouble. But maybe if we go to this card's world, we'll be able to beat him and get our memories back." Sora said. "That's the first thing I've heard that makes sense today. Let's go." Kirito said.

Sora held the card out towards the door. The card sparked with light and the door opened revealing a veil of light. When Sora passed through the light he found himself in a familiar place. The brick houses, cobblestone ground and dim orange lamp posts lighting the starry sky. "Wait, this can't be right. We're in Traverse Town!" Sora exclaimed. "What you see isn't real." a voice spoke. The man in the black coat stood directly behind Sora. Sora turned to face him, but yet again the stranger vanished through a dark portal and reappeared behind Sora again. "This town is an illusion created by your memories ingrained in that card." The stranger said. "My memories?" Sora said as he turned to face him. Then Jiminy Cricket hopped out of his place in Sora's hood and onto the ground. "Forget about that Sora. We lost everybody!" Jiminy exclaimed. Sora turned around yet again and surveyed the area for his comrades, but no one was in sight. "Donald? Goofy? Kirito? Asuna? Strea? Yuuki? Guys! Where are you?" Sora called. "What did you do with them!?" Sora asked. "They are at the mercy of the cards now. Master the cards, and their strength will be yours again." The stranger said. Suddenly Sora found that his pocket was full of an assortment of cards. And a green card with Donald's face appeared and was bouncing on the ground.

"The laws of the castle require that your friends be transformed into cards. I f you value your friends, you won't fail to pick them up. Cards you pick up will be added to the top of your stack. Use them, and your friends will come to your aid." As the stranger had instructed, Sora went to pick up the bouncing card. When he neared it, the card flew into his pocket with the rest of his cards. Sora fished the friend card from his pocket and looked at Donald's frozen visage. "Well, here goes. Donald!" Sora called. Light sparked from the green card and Donald was summoned in a flash of light. The wizard waved his staff and cast fire and blizzard magic at the stranger. However, the stranger merely dodged the offensive magic. "The cards you use vanish, but they will reappear to aid you time and again. Cards are the hearts of your friends. Everything in this castle is ruled by cards. Whether an enemy or a door confronts you, cards are the only way to proceed. But you mustn't forget your own strength. Now come at me." The stranger said. Sora didn't need to be told twice. He ran towards the stranger and swung his keyblade at him. The stranger merely blocked each of his swings as if the keyblade were nothing more than a child's toy. "Each action you take uses up one of the cards in your deck. Without any cards, you can't do anything. However if you merely concentrate, the cards you used will return." The stranger explained. Just as he said, Sora was unable to attack without using a card. Seeing no alternative, Sora heeded the stranger's advice and concentrated on his deck. The cards he had used previously had returned to his pant pocket. "Good. You understand the fundamentals of combat in the castle." The stranger said.

After imparting his lesson, everyone else ran to Sora's side. "What happened to you guys?" Sora asked? "You tell us! When you opened the door, we saw a strange light. The rest is kind of a blank." Donald said. "Gee, that doesn't help. Try to remember what happened. I have to keep my journal up to date." Jiminy said. "Hey, Donald, Where'd we get the new clothes?" Goofy asked. Donald was now wearing a blue tunic with pockets to his left and right and a third in the middle. He also had a hat with a lot of zippers on it. Goofy was wearing a green turtle neck sweater, black vest, yellow pants, brown loafers, and a yellow hat with a pair of goggles. "The cards again?" Sora asked. "That is for you to ponder. Master the cards and make your way through the castle. But from here, you walk alone." The stranger said. "Alone!? We can't let Sora go alone!" Goofy said. "Yeah, Sora can't do anything without our help." Donald said. "Way to egg him on Donald." Asuna said sarcastically. "You want me go alone, Fine. I can take care of myself." Sora said. "Hmph, the hero speaks boldly. Go, then. The rest of Castle Oblivion awaits. Walk avenues of latent memory, and you shall meet someone dear to you." the stranger said. He then opened up another dark portal and vanished. "I've got a bad feeling about this." Jiminy said. "Welcome to the club." Kirito said. "Relax, guys. I'm ready for any tricks he has up his sleeves. How hard can it be to figure out these cards?" Sora said.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Reunion

Traverse town was exactly how Sora remembered it was. Everything from the Starry night sky to the candle dim orange lamp posts. Even the heartless were ones he was familiar with. However due to his new found reliance on cards and the fact that he had to fight the heartless alone meant he had to fight more carefully. Luckily the heartless also used cards for their attacks. When Sora used them right, he was able to counter their attacks. Still he missed having his friends to back him up. So whenever he saw a friend card hopping around, he always went out of his way to pick it up mid battle.

Since Sora had so many friends, he had a large variety of ways to fight off the heartless. Donald would cast a plethora of spells. Goofy had his tornado attack. Kirito would perform a similar move where he would let loose a single powerful spin with his two swords that knocked back any enemies in the radius. He called the attack double circular. Asuna unleashed a highspeed lunging attack with her Rapier. Yuuki dashed across the field slashing at enemies with her short sword using a skill called horizontal square. And last, but not least Strea used her great sword to deal massive damage to any nearby enemies with a single swing.

Though as great as having so many friends to rely on was, the friend cards themselves would only seldom appear so he wasn't able to use them as much as he would like.

After Sora cleared out the first district, he wandered towards the third district. Once there he thought back to the battles he had up to this point and realized that fighting alone was much more difficult than he thought it would be. He began to feel lonely without his friends to talk to and as if in response to his loneliness, six lights descended from the sky. Each light carried a card containing one of Sora's friends. Upon reaching the ground, the cards materialized and each of them stood behind Sora much to his surprise. "Hey, don't pop out of nowhere like that!" Sora exclaimed. "It's not our fault! We don't know what's going on!" Donald said. "Hey isn't that the dog we found carrying Mickey's letter?" Kirito asked while pointing ahead of them. Sora looked behind him and saw a yellow furred canine wagging his long wiry black tail back and forth. "things just keep getting weirder. What's Pluto doing here?" Donald asked. "There's nothing strange about that. We came to Traverse town with Pluto, didn't we? Goofy said. "Did we?" Donald asked.

Jiminy hopped out of his cozy spot in the hood of Sora's jacket. "No, wait! According to my journal, it was before you met Sora, Kirito, and Asuna that you came to town with Pluto!" Jiminy said. "Wak! He's right!" Donald exclaimed. "So that means that this Pluto is the one from our memories?" Asuna said. "Nice catch with the journal Jiminy. Be sure to keep updating it. I feel like it's going to come in handy the further we go into this castle." Kirito said. "but aren't we in Traverse town?" Goofy asked. "No, we're in castle oblivion. That card we got is what created this place." Kirito said. "Aaghh! Who cares about all that? It's too confusing! I don't know where we are, but let's just keep moving forward defeating heartless! We'll get somewhere!" Sora Said.

"You'd better be careful, or it's the heartless that are going to defeat you." Sora turned around to see who had spoken up and to his surprise he saw a familiar man with long brown hair and a scar that ran across his face. "Leon, it's you! What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?" Sora asked. Leon gave a puzzled look at his question. "Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town. And how do you know my name? Who are you?" Leon asked to Sora's complete shock. "I've never met any of you before." Leon said. "Quit playing, Leon! We all fought the heartless together! You know that!" Sora exclaimed. "Look I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know your names." Leon said. "You don't remember us?" Asuna asked. Leon turned his back to us "…Sorry." He replied. "I can't believe it. How can you have forgotten about us?" Sora asked. "I feel for you, but you've got the wrong guy. Happens all the time. Don't take it so personally Sora." Leon said. Kirito and Asuna shared a look after hearing him say Sora's name. "Leon, we didn't tell you our names." Kirito said. Leon's eyes widened in surprise when he realized he did in fact know Sora's despite not having been introduced.

"Now, now hold on! Why do I know your name?" Leon said turning back to face us. "Do you think he's kidding around?" Goofy asked. "If he is, it's not funny. Sora's really upset." Donald replied. "Who's kidding around, Goofy? You and Donald are the ones who—" Leon caught himself midsentence when he realized he also suddenly knew Donald and Goofy's names as well. He pinched his brow in complete confusion. "I don't get it… Something's wrong with my memory. What's happening here?" Leon wondered aloud. "I dunno, Leon. Maybe Aerith was onto something after all." Another voice spoke this time coming from a girl with short black hair with a head band and yellow scarf around her neck. "She said she sensed some uncanny kind of power. And asked us to look into it. Well, this is as uncanny as it gets. Maybe you should take Sora to see Aerith." She said. "Yuffie, you know my name!" Sora said. "Yep! Looks like you know mine, too." Yuffie said. "You know him?" Leon asked. "Nope! Total stranger. But I do know his name. Strange, yes, but convenient! We can skip introductions." Yuffie's laissez-faire attitude caused Leon to pinch his brow in annoyance. "how is it that you can accept this situation so easily? I don't get you…" Leon said. "Well, I'm gonna run aged and fill Aerith in. Leon, you give them the Grand tour. See ya later!" Yuffie said.

"I guess there's no use pondering over it. I'll show you around town, but there are heartless in town. I'll show you how to protect yourselves." Leon said. "But I already know how to use the cards. What else is there to know?" Sora asked. "There's using cards and then then there's playing them. Now watch and learn." Leon said. He pulled out three magic cards from his pocket. "Just using cards one by one can only get you so far. If you use them together in what's called a sleight, you can use much more powerful attacks. Firaga!" he shouted and the cards produced a third tier fire spell that shot towards Sora who promptly blocked the incoming fire ball with his keyblade. "Now you try." Leon said. Sora did as he was told and grabbed 3 cards from his deck. He concentrated on the attack cards he had chosen and felt a surge of power flow through his body. The cards vanished and then Sora hurled his keyblade at Leon performing his strike raid skill. However Leon simply batted it away with his gun blade. "how'd you do that?" Sora asked.

"Do you see the numbers in the bottom right corner of your cards? Each card has a number ranging from zero to nine. The higher the card's number, the more damage it does and the harder it is to break. That's another reason why sleight are so powerful. A sleight adds the total amount of the cards used in it's attack. However, Zero cards are special. They have the ability to break a card or sleight no matter how high the opposing number is. But it's a double edged sword. Just like it can break any card, any card can break a Zero. You have to use them carefully. One more thing, the first card used in your sleight vanishes from your deck after it's used. Don't worry, it's not gone forever. It will reappear after the end of battle." Leon explained. "Wow, this card stuff is a lot more complicated than I thought. Anything else I should know?" Sora asked. "Sleight can allow you to perform attacks you might not even know you were capable of. Try mixing different cards together when you use sleights. The result may turn the tide in your favor." Leon said. "Got it." Sora said.

After Leon's lesson, he gave Sora another magic card that depicted Simba in the art work. It worked similarly to summon magic in that it Summoned the red Maine lion to fight at Sora's side when he called on him. We followed Leon through town and Arrived at the small house he and his group shared. It was here that they met with Aerith. "I don't know whether to say nice to meet you or good to see you again. I don't think I know you, but I feel like you belong here." Aerith said. "Yeah, exactly! Like we've never met, but it still doesn't feel weird knowing your names." Yuffie agreed. "But I'm telling you, we HAVE met. We took on the heartless together. We were a team!" Sora said. "It feels like you're right… But I can't remember." Leon said. "Then I guess you won't remember what you told us at Hollow bastion. 'We may never again…'"Sora lead "…but we'll never forget each other" Leon finished. "See, you do remember!" Sora said. "He's right Leon. I remember you saying that too." Yuffie replied. "I guess I can't right it off as a coincidence, then. I don't have any memory of it, but somehow I still remember. I think your heart is doing the remembering for us.

"Leon said. "my heart?" Sora asked. "We don't know you Sora but your heart is full of memories of us together. Those memories must resonate in our hearts, too. Maybe they tell us things we wouldn't otherwise know." Aerith hypothesized. "So you're saying that Sora's memories are affecting ours?" Leon asked. "They do seem to have a certain power." Aerith said. "maybe it's like that guy said. This town is just an illusion created from my memories." Sora Said. "And there's someone special to you in this town." Aerith replied. "How did you—Ah, I get it. My memories are resonating with yours, telling you what happened. Yeah. A friend of mine is somewhere in traverse town- I mean Castle Oblivion." Sora said. "Castle Oblivion? What's that? There aren't any castles around here." Yuffie said. "That's not quite what I mean. Sora said. "You're still no sure about what's going on yourself right?" Aerith Said. "Right. We just got here, after all. I want to take a better look around." Sora replied. "Then go have a look around town. There are Heartless, but that's no problem for you." Leon said. Sora placed his hands behind his head and grinned "So you know I can fight." he said "I can't say I know, but I feel like believing you. let's leave it at that." Leon said.

 **Author's note: hi everyone. i'm really sorry that this chapter took so long. to make a long story short i decided to branch out for a bit and joined this online star wars role playing group. then my license with microsoft word expired and I literally haven't been able to write this entire time. except for the rp site because they have their own on site writing tool. i tried looking for replacements and it wasn't until just yesterday that i came across a free online service for MW. however i have to say, i'm not liking it very much. the constant autosaving to onedrive interrupts my typing forcing me to constantly backtrack and repeat unregistered keystrokes. and for whatever reason the file doesn't show up in one drive when i look click on files. the desk top files not MW files. i had to copy and paste what i had typed and go from there. if anyone knows a free writing tool that i could download that allows me to save files on my computer and works similarly to word, could you please let me know? and if anyone has any questions about the story that they would like to ask, please let me know and i'll try to answer them in a way that won't give away too much about what i'm planning for the future.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Beware of your Memories

Our heroes went to the second district of Traverse town where they Came across Cid. Like Leon and the others Cid Remembered us despite not knowing who we were. Sora asked him if he had seen his friend Riku, "Your friend huh? Lately all this town sees is heartless. Can't even take two steps without gettin' attacked. In fact, this plaza's the worst. Word is, a jumbo sized heartless shows up when that bell rings." Cid said. The bell he was referring to was the bell in the clock atop the gizmo shop. "if you value your hide, you'll get out a here while the gettin's good." Cid warned us before walking off. "Gawrsh, maybe we should leave." Goofy said. "Aw, but I wanna see the heartless." Yuuki said. "Why the heck would you want to see the Heartless?!" Donald asked. "I think I can answer that." Jiminy stated while hopping on Sora's shoulder. "This world is where our journey began. It wasn't until later in our journey that Yuuki joined us. And if my hunch is right, the big heartless Cid mentioned is the one that brought us all together as a team." Jiminy said. "Yeah. It's like we're starting our journey all over again. Only this time, we're all together." Yuuki Said. "When you put it like that, I guess there is a bright side to this ordeal." Asuna said. "Yeah, you're right. Let's start over from the very beginning!" Sora said while holding his hand out. "I'm in." Kirito said. Placing his hand atop Sora's. "Me too." Asuna said while placing her hand atop Kirito's. The others briefly followed placing their hands atop one another in the circle.

The bell rang shortly after and from the sky came pieces of a large armor like heartless. The torso floated above the two legs and the arms flew to it's left and right followed by the head which fell on top of the torso with a loud clang. The battle started with Sora attacking the Guard armor's legs. As soon as one of the legs was destroyed, a green card came hopping out of it. Sora grabbed the card expecting it to be one of his friends, but was surprised to see the emblem of King Mickey. "What the? This isn't a friend card. What does it do?" Sora wandered Aloud. When he looked closer he saw that the card's number was Zero. Remembering what Leon taught him, Sora waited until the heartless attacked to use the unknown card.

A light shined from it and the armor's body shook like a rattle before collapsing motionless on the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Sora attacked each of the armor's limbs until they were destroyed obtaining more friend cards. However the stun effect was short lived. The guard armor floated back up an recommended its assault. Remembering what Leon said about Mixing different cards for sleights, Sora grabbed Kirito's friend card and 2 attack cards. Once kirito was summoned, Sora threw his keyblade at the guard armor's head knocking it off. Kirito tossed his other sword to Sora and the two of them ran towards the heartless dealing the finishing blow with a combined attack on its torso. Once the heartless was defeated, a black card fell from the sky depicting the guard armor heartless. Which Sira placed in his pocket with the rest of his cards.

Once the battle was over, Leon and the others came to thank us for defeating the heartless. They even offered to help us look around town for Sora's missing friend. "Sorry guys. I don't think I'll find him in this town. But he's somewhere in this castle. I just know it." Sora said. "Castle? Like this whole town's inside some humongous castle? Hoo, that's rich!" Cid laughed. "He's probably right Cid. We might not understand what's going on, but Sora does. Sora can see that reality is bigger than just this world." Leon said. "I wish I was that sure." Sora replied. "You'll be okay, Sora. No matter what shape reality takes, you can handle it. I may not remember you, but I know you in my heart." Leon said. "Leon..." Sora said. "Take care." Yuffie said. "I'm a little lost... but best of luck anyway." Cid bade farewell. the two groups left the second district, however Sora and Aerith remained. "I don't have all the answers, but I had to tell you something. Your memories created this town, right?" Aerith asked. "That's what the guy who gave me th card said." Sora replied.

"If that's true, then tis town is just a figment if your mind... and so are we." Aerith said. "But...you can't be a figment! You're standing right here. This town is here too!" Sora argued. "But I'm not really me. I don't know the things I should. And I sense things I shouldn't. Sora, beware your memories. In the journey to come, you'll be faced with more illusions. Sometimes the shadows of your memory will deceive you. Try to lead you astray." Aerith said. "So... what does that mean?" Sora asked. "I'm sorry. I'm just another illusion. the truth is out of my reach." Aerith said. "Don't say stuff like that. It's depressing..." Sora said. "Stay strong Sora. don't let the illusions distract you from what's truly important." Aerith said. "Will do." Sora replied. "Sora!" Donald called. Sora turned to see the rest of his party waiting for him in the alley. "Are you ready to go?" Goofy asked. "Yeah, be right there." sora replied. "Well, I'd better get going." however when Sora turned, Aerith had vanished "Aerith?" Sora said "Aerith!" he repeated while searching for her. "What about Aerith?" Strea asked. "Where did she go? I was just talking to her!" Sora said. The others shared a look of confusion and concern. "Aerith left with Leon and the others, remember?" Asuna said. "HUH?!" Sora gasped "You worried us. Just standing there by yourself." Yuuki said. "Is this what she meant?" Sora wondered aloud.

we opened the door connecting the third and second district of traverse town. However instead of the third district, we found a wall of light similar to the one in castle oblivion that lead us here. once we went through, we were back in the marble white halls of Castle Oblivion. and awaiting us was the stranger in the black coat. "Well, Sora. did you enjoy meeting your memories?" he asked. "Yeah, it was good tp see everyone, but what do you really want from me?" Sora asked. "What do you have to give?" the stranger replied. the man in black started to approach us which prompted everyone to call out their weapons. However the man stopped when another dark portal opened up. from it another man dressed in the same black coat. however unlike the one before us, the newcomer's hood was lowered exposing his shoulder length spiky red hair, green eyes, and reversed tear marks below his eyes.

"Hello!" he greeted. "What do you want?" the first stranger asked. "No hoggin' the hero!" the new comer complained. the stranger let slip another card from his sleeve and tossed it at the red haired man like a dagger. He caught it with in his hand and gave a large grin. "Perhaps you'd like to test him?" the stranger asked sarcastically before opening up his own dark portal. "Perhaps I would." the red haired man replied. "My show now Keyblade master! Who am I? My name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel said while poking his index finger toward his head. "Uh, sure." Sora said. "Good! you're a quick learner. So, Sora, now that we're getting to know each other better..." Axel raised his hands above his head before spreading them out calling wheels of fire in his hands. the flames quickly dissipated and from them came two chakrams. the red and silver disc like weapons had eight spikes along the rim. the top, bottom, left, and right spikes were attached to a circle that intersected with the rim connected to the weapons cross shaped handle which was clad in a black leather. "Don't you go off and die on me now!" Axel said.


End file.
